The present invention relates generally to infant seats (which are also called infant carriers), and more particularly to an infant seat which includes a shell and a rotationally adjustable handle.
Conventional infant seats include an infant seat having a shell and a handle attached to the shell. The shell defines a cavity for receiving an infant. The shell includes two sides each having a side hub. The handle has two arms, wherein each arm has an arm hub which is rotatably attached to a corresponding side hub. The side hub has a hub axis and has first and second radially-inwardly facing and circumferentially-spaced-apart first and second notches. The arm hub has a single projection which is engageable with a rotationally-aligned one of the two notches. A coil spring has a longitudinal axis which is aligned perpendicular to the hub axis and which is positioned to radially outwardly bias the projection into engagement with a rotationally-aligned one of the two notches. The handle is moveable with respect to the shell in a direction perpendicular to the hub axis to move the projection radially inward and therefore out of engagement with a rotationally-aligned first notch and thereafter the handle is rotatable with respect to the shell to rotationally move the first projection into rotational alignment with the second notch whereafter the spring radially-outwardly biases the projection into engagement with the second notch. The first notch, when engaged by the first projection, aligns the handle in a substantially upright carry position. Thereafter, pushing down on the handle will release the engagement of the projection in the first notch permitting the handle to be rotated to the second notch which aligns the handle in an inclined storage position.
What is needed is an infant seat having a more robust and more convenient design for the attachment of the handle to the shell which permits the handle to be unlocked from one handle position and then rotated and locked to a different handle position.
A first expression of a preferred embodiment of the invention is for an infant seat including a shell, a handle, and a first spring. The shell includes a first side with a first side hub having a first hub axis and having first, second, third, and fourth notches. The first and second notches each have an opening facing substantially radially inward toward the first hub axis, and the third and fourth notches each have an opening facing substantially radially outward away from the first hub axis. The handle includes a first arm with a first arm hub which has a first projection and a second projection and which is substantially coaxially aligned with, and rotatably attached to, the first side hub. The second projection is rotationally aligned with the third notch when the first projection is rotationally aligned with the first notch, and the second projection is rotationally aligned with the fourth notch when the first projection is rotationally aligned with the second notch. The first spring has a longitudinal axis which is aligned substantially parallel to the first hub axis. The first spring is positioned to simultaneously radially-outwardly bias the first projection into engagement with a rotationally-aligned first notch and radially-inwardly bias the second projection into engagement with a rotationally-aligned third notch. The handle is movable with respect to the shell in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first hub axis to simultaneously radially-inwardly move the first projection out of engagement with the rotationally-aligned first notch and radially-outwardly move the second projection out of engagement with the rotationally-aligned third notch. Thereafter, the handle is rotatable with respect to the shell to simultaneously rotationally move the first projection into rotational alignment with the second notch and the second projection into rotational alignment with the fourth notch, whereafter the first spring simultaneously radially-outwardly biases the first projection into engagement with the second notch and radially-inwardly biases the second projection into engagement with the fourth notch. Preferably, the third notch is substantially diametrically opposed to the first notch, the fourth notch is substantially diametrically opposed to the second notch, and the second projection is substantially diametrically opposed to the first projection. Preferably, the first notch, when engaged by the first projection, and the third notch, when engaged by the second projection, aligns the handle in a substantially upright carry position, and wherein the spring is a torsion spring which is torsionally biased to simultaneously urge the first projection to rotate away from the second notch and toward the first notch and the second projection to rotate away from the fourth notch and toward the third notch.
A second expression of a preferred embodiment of the invention is for an infant seat. The second expression is identical to the previously-described first expression except for the description of the location of the notches and projections and except for describing the first spring bias and the handle movement. In the second expression, one of the first side and arm hubs has the first, second, third, and fourth notches, and the other of the first side and arm hubs has the first and second projections. In the second expression, the first spring biases into engagement, and the handle can move out of engagement, the rotationally-aligned projections and notches meaning the first spring biases the projections into engagement with the notches and the handle can move the projections out of engagement with the notches, or the first spring can bias the notches into engagement with the projections and the handle can move the notches out of engagement with the projections.
A third expression of a preferred embodiment of the invention is for an infant seat. The third expression is identical to the previously-described first expression except that the third and fourth notches and the second projection described in the previously-described first expression have been omitted, except that the limitation on the first and second notches to have openings facing substantially radially inward has been omitted, and except for the limitation of xe2x80x9coutwardlyxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cinwardlyxe2x80x9d when describing xe2x80x9cradiallyxe2x80x9d has been omitted. In the third expression, the first and second notches both face substantially radially inward or both face substantially radially outward.
A fourth expression of a preferred embodiment of the invention is for an infant seat. The fourth expression is identical to the previously-described third expression except for the description of the location of the notches and projection and except for describing the first spring bias and the handle movement. In the second expression, one of the first side and arm hubs has the first and second notches, and the other of the first side and arm hubs has the first projection. In the second expression, the first spring biases into engagement, and the handle can move out of engagement, the rotationally-aligned projection and notches meaning the first spring biases the projection into engagement with the notches and the handle can move the projection out of engagement with the notches, or the first spring can bias the notches into engagement with the projection and the handle can move the notches out of engagement with the projection.
Several benefits and advantages are derived from the invention. The alignment of the longitudinal axis of the first spring of the preferred embodiment of the invention substantially parallel to the first hub axis allows two projections to be used to engage two diametrically opposing notches to provide a more robust locking mechanism for each handle position compared to the prior art which employed, in generally the same space, a single projection engaging a single notch for each handle position. Also, the first spring of the preferred embodiment of the invention preferably is a torsion spring which is torsionally biased to conveniently urge the handle to rotate to the upright carry position when the projections are disengaged from those notches corresponding to other handle positions.